More Than Words by Stephie

(Disclaimed: 'More Than Words', Extreme)

Rumpled bedsheets. Dried sweat. Naked bodies. All tangled in a mass on this low wide bed. One lovely angel wakes, green-blue eyes fluttering open. In his sight, there is such beauty. A pale face, slightly flushed from events that transpired a few hours ago. The soft full lips are curved into a small smile, and there is a look of innocence and peace around this angel, the angel with the black hair. His dark locks lay against his skin, black and white, all contrasts.

The blond-haired angel reaches out a hand and cups his sleeping counterpart's face, reveling in the warmth of his skin. Then he leans over, lightly kissing the features in front of him: forehead, cheeks, then lips. Gray-blue eyes open and lashes brush against the trespassing angel's face. The lips feel the kiss, the eyes see the face, and they shut once more, soaking in the moment. The awakened angel lifts his hand, running it along the body next to him.

Daniel breaks the kiss and looks at his new lover. He smiles, a happy, passionate, lazy smile, and continues to stoke Darren's cheek. The pale man curves his arm around Daniel's waist, drawing himself closer until their bodies press together. Daniel tucks Darren's head beneath his chin, and they hold each other for a moment.

"I dreamt..." Daniel trails off.

"Hmm?" Darren closes his eyes, nuzzling the other's neck.

"I dreamt we had wings...and we flew away, and then we were always happy." There is silence for a moment. Daniel looks down at his lover. His eyes are open, staring at the man in front of him, but not really at anything at all. He looks frightened, sad, angry. "Darren, you don't regret this, do you?" Darren looks up, blinking unshed tears away.

'Nothing can ever be the same...'

"No...no...I love you, Daniel. You know that." Daniel smiles and pulls the smaller man closer, stroking his hair.

"I love you, too, Darren." And they lay there.

Saying I love you
Is not the words I want to hear from you
It's not that I want you
Not to say, but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show me how you feel
More than words is all you really have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say you love me
Cause I'd already know...

Daniel hits the closet door, anger radiating from him. "Damn him!" He pulls the door open and slams it shut. "That slut!" He throws himself on the bed nearby. "How dare he..." Then the tears come, and a dull pain forms in his chest. He curls up into fetal position, and thinks about the night's events.

They had gone to a party, happy and carefree. It wasn't like the hoity-toity parties they usually went to, but a rave taking place across town. It had been fun to get away from the stress of their lives. They danced and rested and met people, and it was fun until Darren disappeared. Daniel searched, growing more and more frantic. He found him with a group of beautiful people, dancing in ways that seemed more like making love vertically. Jealousy burned inside the onlooking man. His lover kissed a man, then a woman, and then Darren's gray-blue eyes looked up and stared at Daniel. They were both still for a moment. Daniel felt his face grow hot and his vision begin to blur, so he turned and walked out. He caught a taxi, climbed into the back, and didn't let himself think until he got back to the apartment.

Daniel lets himself lay there, and then gets up and begins to unbutton his shirt. 'It was going so well until this...' A door opens and shuts. Daniel freezes. 'No...don't let him know it bothers you.' He pulls off his shirt as he hears Darren stomping around the front room. The blond continues to undress himself as goosebumps form. He hears footsteps up the hallway and Darren passes his door. Then there is silence.

"Jonsey?" Darren's voice calls out.

"Y-" Daniel swallows. "Yes, Daz?"

"Are you alright?" Darren's voice holds sadness and regret, masked by pure inquisitiveness.

"Of course," the blond says. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I..." Darren stops. "Nevermind." He walks away. Daniel listens to his bedroom door close, then turns out the light and lays on his bed, nude. He curls up, shutting his eyes, and begins to take long, even breaths. He stays like this for a few moments, until once again there is noise at his door. A knock.

"Jonsey?"

'Damn...he came back. I think I'll just pretend to be asleep...'

"Jonsey, I know you're awake. Can I talk to you?" Daniel sighs and unfolds himself, then gets out of bed and pulls on a pair of boxers and a T-shirt.

"Come in," he says. The door immediately opens and Darren rushes in, wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms. His short hair is sticking out in multiple directions from running his hands through the gel-dried locks. He looks up at the blond man, then back down, crosses his arms, and begins to pace around the room. For a few moments, Darren wears a path in the carpet, apparently thinking. He then stops in front of Daniel, keeping his eyes on the blue-green plush.

"I don't really have an excuse for that," says Darren. He starts to walk again. Stops. "I really don't know why I did it, either." Paces. Stops. And looks up, his stricken eyes meeting Daniel's. "I should leave." But he doesn't, and they both stand there, watching. The pain in Daniel expands and throbs as Darren takes a step back.

'Is the anger worth losing him?'

"Dazza?" Darren stops, slightly frightened. Seconds drag by. "I love you." The blond holds his arms out, inviting his lover in. He steps forward, into the taller man's embrace.

He wraps his arms around Daniel's torso. "I love you, too."

What would you do if my heart was torn in two
More than words to show you feel
That your love for me is real
What would you say if I took those words away
Then you couldn't make things new
Just by saying I love you
More than words...

Moonshine spills over the grass and is absorbed into the pavement and benches and fountains. Crickets chirp a symphony for the lovers in the park. And what lovers they are. Twilight has ended only moments before, and a gentle coolness has set in around them all. Our favorite couple sits in a patch of clover, absently picking at the blooms. There is an air of happiness around them both.

Darren sighs contentedly as he leans against Daniel, silent as they listen and lazy as they watch. Daniel slides an arm around his shoulder, drawing him closer. Memories flow through him.

It was a dark night. An unhappy, angry night. Rain poured down loudly, beating down everywhere. Lightning flashed, but the thunder stifled. It was unsatisfying and wrong, at least to Daniel. He was sitting on the leather couch in the front room of the apartment he shared with Darren, watching TV and counting the seconds between flash and crash. It was 3:13 AM as Daniel flipped from one infomercial to another.

"Glam rock greatest collection CD..." He murmured to himself. "I need that." As he watched Ziggy Stardust and Iggy Pop dance and sing on the screen, the door to the apartment opened and a large drowned rat standing on two legs entered. On closer inspection, Daniel found this black and pale thing was not a resurrected rat, but Darren. A very wet Darren. A Darren with water streaking down him. A Darren that was taking off his light jacket to reveal his water-soaked white t-shirt. His water-soaked white t-shirt which clung to Darren's muscled chest. The same t-shirt through which peaked two hard nipples. Darren stood there, soaked, kicking off shoes, socks, pulling off that very t-shirt that Daniel had been staring so obviously at, though now he was staring at the pale chest underneath. Dropping his gaze a few inches to gather the whole effect of this wonderfully soaked creature, he watched Darren walk past him to his bedroom. Watched other things on Darren.

"Hi, Jonsey," Darren said just before he closed his bedroom door. Daniel stared at that door for a moment, willing it to open and Darren to come back out, preferably in less clothing. Daniel was glad to be sitting down. He turned his divided attention back to the TV screen, where some androgynous man with feathers sang. He switched off the TV, able to stand up again without having to be any more embarrassed if Darren did happen to come back out.

'Ok...that was...different...ummm...ok, fact 1: Darren is a yummy little thing. Fact 2: I just got hard for him. Fact 3: He should be a pole dancer. Conclusion: umm...come on, there has to be a conclusion...'

He stepped up to Darren's door, and with a slight hesitation, knocked.

"Dazza?" There was scuffling behind the door.

"Yes, Jonsey?"

"Can I come in?" More scuffling.

"Sure." Daniel opened the door, where he found Darren sprawled out on his bed, wearing boxers and a t-shirt.

'Conclusion?'

"What happened?" Daniel asked, distracted. Darren gestured to the window.

"It's raining outside." And as if to emphasize this, the rain pounded harder.

"Oh."

"Yep."

"Hmm."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" This brought Daniel back to full focus.

'Yes.'

"Jonsey?"

'Conclusion, damn it!'

"You there?"

'Grumble!!' At this point, Daniel, fed up with his own idiot mind, marched over to Darren, who was looking slightly amused, took the dark-haired man's head between his large hands, and lightly kissed the lips between them. Daniel kept a firm hold on him even as Darren tried, somewhat, to pull away. They broke after a moment, and Darren stared up at Daniel, confused.

"Jonsey?"

"My Dazza," Daniel said, his eyes soft, and he lowered his lips onto Darren's once again. This time, there was no resistance.

Daniel is broken out of the flashback as Darren begins to get up. "You coming, love?" He asks, holding out his hand. Daniel smiles.

"Yes, dearheart," he says, teasing lightly. He puts his hand in Darren's, stands up, and they leave.

Now I've tried to talk to you and make you understand
All you have to do is close your eyes
And just reach out your hands and touch me
Hold me close, don't ever let me go
More than words is I ever needed you to show
Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me
Cause I'd already know

"Do you ever think about tomorrow?" Darren's voice rings through the kitchen as they wash dishes from dinner. Daniel glances over at his lover.

"Yes, but I don't think it's the same type of tomorrow you've talking about." Darren frowns, shuffles, places a clean glass in a pantry. There is silence, until Daniel very purposefully brushes his hand against Darren's fingers and down his arm until he reaches his waist. The blond wraps his arms around Darren and settles his chin on the silky black hair below him. Darren stiffens slightly.

"Sometimes I think this is a bad idea," he says. Daniel freezes.

"What?" he says with a certain amount of disbelief.

"This...you...and I...as lovers..." Darren's voice drifts off, and Daniel feels for a moment he has lost him.

"How could this be a bad idea?"

"There are so many factors to consider..." Darren looks up into Daniel's eyes. "You know?"

"Are you happy?" It is asked so simply, yet what other way is there to put it?

Darren smiles slightly, averting his eyes back down, saying, "Yes..."

"Well, then what else matters?" Daniel's arms tighten around the shorter man. "I love you...and you love me...and we're happy."

"But aren't you ever scared of all this?" Darren asks. An answer is needed. Fear...of this?

"I..." His voice cracks. "I am, sometimes. But I think that it's all worth it."

"I'm scared a lot...so many things could happen...you might stop loving me...or I might stop loving you..."

"I won't." Daniel's gaze is intense.

"You don't know that." And Darren's is slightly accusing.

"I don't. But...I also don't want to stop loving you."

"I get so scared sometimes...that's why I did that...you know, at the party." Daniel winces at the memory. "It sounds really stupid and cruel, I know. But that's the only thing I could think of to do at the time. Make you leave me before I loved you too much to let go." They hold each other for a moment.

"Jonsey?"

"Yes?"

"I lo-" And Daniel kisses him deeply, cutting him off before he can finish. He pulls back after the rest of the words have been taken from his lover's mouth.

"I know." And there are no more words to say.